In a procedural vote that represented some pretty fine political grandstanding, the Senate this evening voted down the controversial House-passed budget, 57 to 40. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scheduled the vote to force conservative senators to go on the record in support of Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget plan — a plan opponents say will deprive seniors of adequate health care.

It’ll be all too easy for Democrats to criticize Republicans who voted for the Ryan plan — but, before they do, they might want to consider this advice, offered in the preamble to the president’s own fiscal commission report:

In the weeks and months to come, countless advocacy groups and special interests will try mightily through expensive, dramatic and heart-wrenching media assaults to exempt themselves from shared sacrifice and common purpose. The national interest, not special interests, must prevail. We urge leaders and citizens with principled concerns about any of our recommendations to follow what we call the Becerra Rule: Don’t shoot down an idea without offering a better idea in its place.

So, what better idea have the Democrats offered? Still none. It’s been 756 days now and that number just continues to climb. The only budget to come from the left has come from the president — and that budget doesn’t exactly address what fiscal commission co-chair Erskine Bowles has called “the most predictable economic crisis in history.” The Congressional Budget Office found that the president’s FY 2012 budget would double the nation’s debt and would never achieve an annual deficit of less than $748 billion.

Vice President Joe Biden was given another big job by President Obama on Wednesday and the burden may have driven Obama’s go-to guy into a moment of sleep or, at least, contemplation.

Biden, who has more than a nodding acquaintance with deficits, debts and federal budget woes, was caught apparently deep in thought or catching a few winks while Obama outlined his plan for dealing with the deficit.

Don’t worry, because Joe Biden did not miss much. President Obama simply resorted to a bunch of recycled rhetoric he has used in the past. His plan to fix our deficit: Spend more taxpayer money, borrow more, tax the so-called “wealthy”, and cut defense. In other words, it was all expected. President Obama is a liberal who adores big government and tiptoes around our enormous entitlement programs (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid) which are pushing us closer to the edge of a real crisis.

It’s official folks! US Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) released his budget plan that cuts $6.2 trillion in spending over the next ten years. Also, he released an awesome Path to Prosperity video to go along with it.

His plan eliminates hundreds of duplicative programs, reﬂects the ban on earmarks, curbs corporate welfare, brings government spending to below 20 percent of the economy, and much more!

The current path – which the President’s irresponsible budget commits us to – will result in a debt-fueled economic crisis, the shredding of the safety net, and a diminished future. Americans deserve better than empty promises from a government going broke. The budget advanced by the House Budget Committee ensures real security through real reform. The House Budget Committee’s FY2012 Budget Resolution helps spur job creation today, stops spending money the government doesn’t have, and lifts the crushing burden of debt. This plan puts the budget on the path to balance and the economy on the path to prosperity.

When it comes to addressing the crushing burden of debt, Rep. Ryan’s budget plan tackles it:

By continuing Washington’s spending spree, the President’s budget adds $13 trillion dollars to the debt over the next decade. Under his budget, debt held by the public would double by 2016 compared with the President’s ﬁrst year in ofﬁce, and triple by the end of the budget window.

By failing to address the unsustainable growth of autopilot spending programs, the President’s budget commits this nation to a crushing burden of debt. The CBO estimates that under the President’s budget, debt held by the public will near 90 percent of the entire economy by the end of the decade. The explosive growth of debt will continue in the years ahead. The CBO projects debt as a share of the economy to grow to 146 percent in 2030, 233 percent in 2040, and an unfathomable 344 percent in 2050.

If policymakers continue down the present course, the consequences will be dire. American families are still reeling from the hardships of the recent economic downturn, and millions of individuals remain out of work. Yet Washington continues to erect to new barriers to growth, to raise the hurdles to sustained private-sector job creation, and – most distressingly – to accelerate the nation ever-faster toward a debt-fueled economic crisis.

[…]

The Path to Prosperity lifts the crushing burden of debt, making it possible for the economy to grow and for Americans to prosper. This budget would cut trillions of dollars from the debt relative to the President’s budget in every year of their long-term analysis. In 2022, the debt would be over 25 percent lower than would be the case under the status quo; 56 percent less in 2030; 79 percent in 2040. By 2050, this budget would cut the debt in half relative to where it stands today, lifting nearly $120 trillion of debt relative to the President’s path.

Although I have only scratched the surface here, I am extremely excited about Rep. Ryan’s Path to Prosperity. There are some mighty big numbers in there and naturally it has quickly come under attack from the Democrats. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has already decided to share her baffling two-cents.

WARNING: Statements about grandma being forced to eat dog food because of heartless Republicans and their insane crusade for solvency will be a staple of Democratic talking points, especially with the White House desperate to win back seniors alienated by ObamaCare.

Oops… It has already started. Go figure.

*UPDATE* – May 25, 2011 – 9:55 pm

Reminder: Americans 55 years old or older will not be affected by Rep. Ryan’s plan, but does that fact stop the opposing political party from creating misleading ads like this?:

Answer: According to Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, it is just like The Simpsons.

In case you haven’t heard, Illinois lawmakers (dominated by Democrats) approved a 66 percent income-tax increase in a desperate bid to end the state’s crippling budget crisis.

This is where Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels decided to weigh in on the subject. The Daily Caller reports:

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels isn’t as worried about his own state’s reputation as he is with that of Illinois, according to a WLS Chicago radio interview in which he compared Illinois to “The Simpsons.”

“Oh you guys are nothing if not entertaining over there [in Illinois]. It’s like living next door to ‘The Simpsons’, you know the dysfunctional family down the block?” Daniels said Wednesday. “Watching you guys, I mean I shouldn’t make too light of it, I think this is really a bad situation.”

Daniels was referring to Illinois’ tax income increase, which the Illinois House and Senate passed on Tuesday. Daniels also said Indiana has never had an income tax increase but has instead provided tax cuts to residents. When it comes to job creation, argued the Indiana governor, income tax increases aren’t the solution.

“If you want to bring new jobs to your state the last thing you do is make it more expensive to hire people, and so we’ve been working for six years, we’re now at the top of everybody’s list of a good place to do business, and going in the other direction really is something that we’re not prepared to do, and I hope you guys find a way not to also,” Daniels said.

Absolutely priceless.

Also, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie went after Illinois’ budget failures and showcased his conservative policies (balancing the budget and lowering taxes) this morning on Fox & Friends.

The federal government has accumulated more new debt–$3.22 trillion ($3,220,103,625,307.29)—during the tenure of the 111th Congress than it did during the first 100 Congresses combined, according to official debt figures published by the U.S. Treasury.

That equals $10,429.64 in new debt for each and every one of the 308,745,538 people counted in the United States by the 2010 Census.

The total national debt of $13,858,529,371,601.09 (or $13.859 trillion), as recorded by the U.S. Treasury at the close of business on Dec. 22, now equals $44,886.57 for every man, woman and child in the United States.

In fact, the 111th Congress not only has set the record as the most debt-accumulating Congress in U.S. history, but also has out-stripped its nearest competitor, the 110th, by an astounding $1.262 trillion in new debt.

[…]

Democrats controlled both the House and Senate in the 110th and 111th Congresses.

Bravo Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the Democrats!

It truly takes a talented bunch of Democrats to get incredibly intoxicated with power, grab the federal government credit card (paid for by the taxpayers), and spend it irresponsibly like Preston Waters in the movie Blank Check.

Exit Question: Hey Democrats, what ever happened to PAYGO? You know… The so-called budgetary tool you guys designed to stop deficit spending?

Wonder what you would find if you frisked the Democrats in Washington D.C.?

Answer: They cannot pass a budget!

Not being able to pass or release a budget proposal – one of the main jobs of the government – is absolutely pathetic and Democrats everywhere should be ashamed.

Since I got that little rant off my chest, the House Republican Conference released a creative ad that addresses the Democrats’ “little” mishap… BREAKING NEWS: The budget has been canceled and the Democrats have absolutely no plan to create jobs!

The Democrats have just admitted that they are not able to pass the most basic, almost simplistic fiscal outline that’s not even binding anyway.

Why? Because the Democrats are cowards.

They can’t put on paper what they know to be true—that their intended policies are to continue to spend at record paces, take in far less revenue than they spend, and thus blow the deficit and debt up to levels that even the most imaginary schoolchild cannot envision (the same schoolchild who eventually will have to pay for all this debt).

It’s worth noting that the U.S. House has never—EVER—failed to pass a budget resolution since the current budget rules were put into place in 1974.

And here comes the best part! The Republicans – Rep. Tom Prince and Rep. Jim Jordan – have introduced a budget resolution on behalf of the Republican Study Committee (RSC)! Oh yeah… And I almost forgot to mention: Their proposal is a balanced budget proposal too!

Click here if you are interested in reading the 34-page document. Are the Republicans the ‘Party of No’? I don’t think so folks.

Reminder to the Democrats: Man up and propose a budget… It’s quite pathetic that your tails are tucked between you legs on this issue because you’re afraid that your massive government spending will destroy you in the upcoming November election… Probably because it will.

Wonder what you would find if you frisked the comparison between deficits as a percentage of GDP from actual budgets during the Bush and Clinton presidencies to the current White House projections for future budget deficits under President Obama’s plan?

[…] In this clip he is hypothetically attributing the years of Obama’s spending to Bush (as Obama would have you believe) to show what Obama’s best year would look like against prior administration’s deficit spending. The first two columns represent the average % of deficit to GDP for Clinton and Bush.

As this clip starts, he has already attributed the first 2 years of Obama’s term to Bush and proceeds to do the same for the following two years. He ends up with what would be Obama’s best year ever regarding the deficit – the 1st year of his second term. Again, all of this according to the White House numbers.

Yup… That’s right President Obama, keep blaming it ALL on former President Bush. With Obama promising to start getting tough on deficits, anyone with a brain has to be on the ground laughing at that statement. It’s simple: His spending is absolutely OVERWHELMING! ❗